"Don't you think it'll be a tad bit awkward if they find out I was in on it?" I asked, tapping my chin in thought.

James and Sirius were carefully putting itching powder all over the uniforms of Lily, Marlene and Alice, making sure not to get any on their skin or their own clothes. Peter lay on the floor, the Marauder's Map in hand, watching the girls' dots to make sure they weren't coming back to the dormitories yet. Remus was sitting on the windowsill, looking out the window; he was the one who replied.

"No, you don't have to tell them you knew about it."

"I suppose that's true... But they'll know that I knew about it since I'm the only one not being pranked," I pointed out.

"Are you asking us to prank you as well?" Sirius asked suddenly, moving from Marlene's trunk to Lily's. There was a suggestive tone to his voice.

"No."

"Either we prank you as well, just to keep their suspicions off of you... or you suffer the consequences of them knowing you were in on it. Your choice," said James, shrugging indifferently.

"Fine, I'll let them hate me," I said. "Besides, it's not like any of them particularly cared for me anyway."

Peter jerked his head up to look at me. "Yeah, that's the way to think. Since when do you, Bianca Reynolds, care if people hate you?" he asked rhetorically.

"Exactly, Wormy. Glad you know me." I winked at him.

Peter looked down at the Map again after grinning at me. He resumed his previous task and his eyes followed the dots on it. He laid absently on one of the beds, which happened to be Marlene's, and placed the Map in his lap.

Suddenly, his face flushed, and he yelled out, "Oh, I think they're heading up here! Hurry up!"

James and Sirius, both startled, worked faster, apparently determined to finish the prank rather than just abandoning it. They looked completely flustered until Peter, scratching his eyebrow, said, "Oh... wait... false alarm. They're going the opposite way."

James hit himself in the forehead while sighing in relief. "Gosh, Peter, you had me scared for a minute there! I'm not ready to die yet, as I would've if the girls came in to find us looking through their trunks and putting itching powder all over their clothes."

"Please, James, you're going to end up brutally murdered tomorrow anyway, when they come to breakfast itching all over... What's the difference?" Remus asked, putting his head in his hands and giving James an innocent smile.

"Oh, hush up, Moony, and come help us," James ordered. "Stop lounging around and being lazy."

"I'm not sitting here because I'm lazy, I just don't want to get my hands dirty. Now, I can truthfully say I didn't do it if asked. Technically, I didn't carry out the prank... I only planned it out; there is a huge difference."

James rolled his eyes and turned away from the prefect. Sirius, however, grabbed something from one of the trunks and chucked it at Remus, who let out a dramatic and high-pitched scream.

I scowled at the boys, who were laughing, and made my way towards the bra that was lying on the floor.

"Wha—SIRIUS!" I yelled at him in a scolding manner. "You are not allowed to touch that stuff! That is girl—property—personal—stuff—argh just no!" I continued as I struggled to find the right words.

I used my wand to levitate it from the floor guide it back into Lily's trunk, glaring at the four boys as they continued chuckling.

"Immature gits," I muttered under my breath.

"This is where you decide to draw the line?" James scoffed, the smirk never leaving his face. "After you actually permitted us to carry out this whole prank right in front of you?"

"Don't question me, I'm weird. Are you done with all of this yet?"

"This prank has to be perfect, and perfection takes time," James hummed. "That's the exact reason for which I take so long to get ready in the morning."

"How to Stop Sounding Conceited in Front of Others," Remus said, nudging me and raising his eyebrows, reminding me of a conversation we'd had before.

"We really need to make that worksheet for him," I said, pretending to stroke my imaginary beard. "Step one: stop throwing in comments about how amazing you are where they don't belong."

Remus snorted. "Step two: avoid ruffling your hair up too much."

I smirked. "Step three: never make friends with someone just as conceited as you, who boosts your ego immensely and who tells you how amazing your hair looks."

I laughed with Remus as James and Sirius crossed their arms and gave us identical glares; Peter, on the other hand, looked downright confused, as he had missed half of our conversation the other day.

"My hair is way more beautiful than his," Sirius huffed finally.

A small laugh escaped my lips at how protective he was about his hair.

"Hush, and finish up with your prank," I ordered.

"We're done now, actually," said Sirius, dusting himself off.

He gracefully hopped over a trunk and made his way towards Peter and the Marauder's Map, but tripped over his own feet as Peter cried out once more.

"Now they're heading back here for real."

"What? Where are they?" James asked. "How far? How long have we got before they get here?"

Peter chose to only answer one of James's questions. "Entering the common room now," he replied.

"What? Pete, I thought you were supposed to keep your eyes on the Map at all times! You know, so we'd at least have a few minutes warning before they came up here!"

"Oops," said Peter, rubbing his cheek.

"Have we got time to run down or will they see us?"

"They'll see us, they're coming up the stairs now, hurry!" he hissed.

"OK, act natural," said Remus, crossing his legs. "It'll look less suspicious."

Sirius snorted. "That's your idea of 'acting natural'? Remmy, acting like a woman won't cut it—"

"Should I hide in the bathroom?" James whispered.

"Peter, get off of Marlene's bed," I told him quickly. He blushed and rolled off of it.

James pulled his Invisibility Cloak out of his pocket and threw it over himself. "Padfoot, get under here," he ordered, holding the end of the Cloak out for Sirius.

Picking himself up off the floor finally, Sirius disappeared under the Cloak with James, while Remus and Peter both complained that they weren't there as well and that they couldn't all fit under it.

I threw them both a textbook from my nightstand so that we could pretend we were studying and shot them a glare to tell them to shut up. One of the two boys under the Invisibility Cloak also snatched the Marauder's Map from Peter's grasp as it too disappeared underneath the Cloak just as Alice walked into the dormitory, Lily and Marlene behind her.

They only noticed Remus and Peter when they fully walked in; the door, however, remained ajar, and I hoped that James and Sirius had taken the opportunity to dart out (but there would be no way to know if they had).

The three girls all looked surprised and taken aback upon seeing Remus and Peter. Both boys looked up from their books and gave the girls innocent grins that barely concealed their nervousness. Lily, Alice and Marlene continued to stare at them until I decided to break the silence, realizing that they probably didn't want two boys in their dormitory at the moment.

"Oh, sorry," I told them.

The girls started talking politely all at once.

"Hi, Remus, Peter, we were just about to—"

"Could you perhaps give us a moment for—?"

"We just need to—"

My eyebrows raised before I turned to the boys expectantly. "That means get out," I said bluntly.

Remus and Peter scrambled to their feet and made for the door.

"So rude," a voice whispered to me as if they were only inches away, and I jumped because it appeared as though no one was standing there.

I shook my head and shot a glare at James and Sirius, though it was hard to do since I couldn't see where they were.

Suddenly, Peter was sent tumbling to the floor as he smacked into an invisible barrier.

The girls all turned to look at him, startled.

"Sorry," Peter squeaked, "I... er... smacked into the door."

"He's always doing that," Remus scoffed, smacking Peter's shoulder. "Peter, you clumsy man, you..."

I got up and stood near them, mumbling out of the corner of my mouth, "As I said before, I will throw you down the stairs."

"Violence is not the answer," a high-pitched voice squawked, and I knew immediately that it was Sirius.

Meanwhile, Remus and Peter ran down the stairs as quickly as they could, and I turned back to look at Lily, Alice and Marlene awkwardly. The girls remained silent and I didn't say anything either. Then I remembered that Remus and Peter had taken my textbooks with them and I ran after them.

I thundered down the stairs to the girls' dormitory and up the ones to the boys' dormitory, finding the boys there.

"That went well," I said. "By the way, can I have my textbooks back, guys?"

Remus looked down at the book he was still holding, as if he hadn't realized he had taken it. "Oh... yeah."

I quickly levitated both into the air wandlessly and Banished them back up to the girls' dormitory, sending them towards my trunk.

"Can't wait for tomorrow," James said. "That should be fun, shouldn't it?"

"You're really just asking for Lily to break your neck," said Remus. "She already hated you enough before and the two of you had kind of gotten to the point of being somewhat civil with each other. That'll all go down the drain."

"They were hardly civil," Sirius countered. "She still thinks he's an arrogant toerag."

"Well, whatever the case may be, it'll get even worse for him tomorrow."

"You're saying it like she'll know it was me," James piped up.

Sirius, Remus, Peter and I looked at him exasperatedly.

"Yeah, you're right, she'll know it was me," he chortled. "Whatever. Until tomorrow we shall wait. Now, this Charms essay isn't going to write itself, will it?"

"James Potter doing Charms homework?" I gasped. "I've scarce heard of such a thing."

"That's why you'll write it for me," he said, batting his eyelashes at me.

"Absolutely not."

James sighed. "Y'know, I already knew exactly what you'd say, but I still think it was worth a shot..." He turned to Remus. "Remmy, Moony, Moonpie, would you please be so kind as to write this essay for me?"

"Well, since you said please..."

James perked up, his glasses askew on the bridge of his nose. "Really?"

"No. You're on your own, mate."

He groaned. "Well I'd best be getting started."

They got some homework out and began to work on it. Since I had already finished mine, I saw my shining chance. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Anyway, on another note... can I borrow the Marauder's Map?"

Four confused faces turned away from their homework and towards me.

I had been waiting for this very opportunity. It was something I had thought about for a while: the only way I could meet Regulus without the risk of the Marauders seeing us together on the Marauder's Map was to take said Map with me when I went to meet him. I just hoped that they wouldn't question me too much.

"Why?" Sirius stared at me with narrowed eyes, as if he thought I'd go around using the Marauder's Map for no good, just like they did.

"Sirius, please, no questions," I said calmly. "Just give me the Map for the rest of the afternoon. Besides, you guys don't always tell me what you're up to, so why should I feel obliged to?"

"Bianca, now you've got us all curious as to what you're using it for," said James.

I winced at their simultaneously curious and suspicious expressions. "Can I please use it? Just for a little while?" I asked nervously.

"Only because you're our best friend," he replied with a playful roll of his eyes.

He passed the blank and folded Map off to me.

"Thanks guys! I'll see you at breakf—I mean, lunch—what? Dinner. I meant dinner. I'll see you at dinner. OK, bye."

I left in a hurry, tripping down the stairs as I ran, trying to make sure that they weren't following me. I made my way through the common room and exited through the portrait hole, looking over my shoulder all the while to be sure no one was trailing after me.

Once I had left Gryffindor Tower and was completely alone, I whispered to the Marauder's Map, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The familiar sight of Hogwarts appeared before my eyes, which swept over the Map, searching for Regulus. I spent a good five minutes searching for his name, but I was giddy when I finally saw the dot labelled with his name alone atop the Astronomy Tower.

I ran through the castle up to the Astronomy Tower, and when I finally reached it I was out of breath.

Just as I'd been hoping, Regulus sat alone right at the edge. His legs dangled over the side of the Astronomy Tower. It wasn't a very nice day and there were white clouds covering every inch of the blue sky. Regulus was, with his black hair and robes, a dark silhouette that contrasted against the off-white clouds. He was bent over a small notebook, a quill in his hands and a bottle of ink next to him.

I cleared the Map and stowed it away in my pocket. As I took another step, my footsteps resonated louder than I would've liked, startling him and causing him to hastily close his notebook and his head to whip towards where I stood. He visibly relaxed as he saw me.

"Whew," he said, placing a hand over his heart and giving me a small smile, "it's you. I feared it would be some of those annoying uncultured swines I call friends."

I laughed warmly. He reminded me of myself and how I hated talking to anyone besides my group of close friends.

"What are you doing up here?" I asked, approaching him and sitting down next to him. "Normally people come up here to look at the stars and right now, not only is it still light out but it's also very cloudy and the stars wouldn't be seen anyway. A little eerie, don't you think?"

"Well, Bianca," he began thoughtfully, turning to face me fully, "that's just the thing... no one thinks to come up here at a time like this. There's no Astronomy class going on because it's not dark out right now and there are no stars yet, so I can rest assured that no one will bother me up here. Although I'm quite all right with it when it's you."

"That's smart," I noted. "Astronomy without stars."

He nodded and looked out over the edge of the castle. We had a view of all of the grounds.

"Reg, what've you got there?" I asked him, gesturing to the notebook held loosely in his hand.

He looked down and blushed.

"Is Regulus Black writing in his diary?" I joked, bumping his shoulder with mine.

"No, Regulus Black doesn't do diaries," he said bashfully, smiling at the sky. "Regulus Black does occasionally... and only occasionally... write poems."

I gasped. "I knew you were a poet, Regulus!" I bit my lip, trying to stop the grin from appearing on my face. "See, I was right. I can tell by the way you speak, by the words you use. It's like you put more care into using the right words than the average person does."

"Yes, writing has been a secret pleasure of mine... If Mother ever found this notebook, she'd burn it," he said sadly. The wind blew a strand of his hair from his face.

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh, love, anything that suggests that I've got my own mind and that I haven't been brainwashed by her teachings is complete taboo to her," Regulus replied.

"Aww," I cooed, resisting the urge to grab his hand.

"Darling, you haven't any idea how truly horrific my family can be. I'm sure you've heard plenty from Sirius, but not enough nonetheless. You've heard what they do to their least favourite son, but they've treated their favourite son horribly as well. I was just always better at agreeing with them and at hiding my true emotions than Sirius was."

I felt an ache in my chest. "Oh, Regulus..." was all I could sigh.

"Once, I had a pet," he said, staring off into the distance. "He was just a plain fluffy white Persian cat. Quite expensive, too, though my parents have got enough money to spend. I called him Duveteux, which simply means 'fluffy' in French, because I was only eleven years old and rather devoid of more creative names." He paused, not looking at me. He swallowed and his throat bobbed before he continued. "Mother feared I was becoming too emotionally attached to him. I was, in a sense, because he was my favourite companion. When I came home for Christmas, she... she killed him. She told me she didn't, but even my eleven-year-old self knew that she did it. And she waved it off, saying she and Father could buy me a thousand more with the money they had... but I never wanted any other."

He looked me straight in the eyes, his blue-grey ones piercing mine.

"Sirius comforted me back then. He was the only one who didn't judge me for crying."

I didn't know what to say anymore, and the intensity of his gaze was making my eyes burn, so I looked away quickly.

"Wow, I've never told anyone else any of that," he breathed.

I remained silent for as long as I could, but the question I was itching to ask was on the tip of my tongue. I was with him, yet I still didn't fully understand him, and that was all I really wanted.

"Regulus, do you love your mother?" I asked bluntly. He looked shocked at my question, but I stared at him because I was so curious as to what he would respond. He seemed as though he hadn't thought of it himself.

"I... I don't know," he said softly, and his voice was only a whisper in the wind. "But I suppose she'd want me to say no, anyway, since I'm not supposed to be emotionally attached to any soul." He caught my eyes again. "There's an exception to every rule, though, isn't there? You're that exception for me."

My face softened and I saw the poetic side of him once again shining through this hard exterior of a boy who wasn't allowed to show his feelings.

"So, sometimes I come out here to just write," he said, changing the subject subtly. "I can't write at home, so I just do it here, when I'm alone."

"Did... did you want me to leave so you can write?" I asked.

"No," he said immediately, reaching over to grab my hand.

I interlocked my fingers with his and let his head rest on my shoulder. With my free hand, I ran my fingers through his dark hair.

So we stared at the clouds, drinking in the sight of them as if they really were stars.